Dave Bautista reprises his role of “Drax the Destroyer” in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. What struck me immediately about Dave Bautista – other than the fact that he came to our interview dressed as Drax – was in size! I’m only 5 feet, so really – everyone is “tall” to me, but Dave!? Dave’s a big guy! What I didn’t know about Dave Bautista before our interview was that he was a WWE and MMA fighter, turned actor! My husband was a big WWE fan when he was a kid, so he knew all about Dave Bautista in “that world.” It was really interesting meeting Dave Bautista, the actor.
Two things jumped out at me immediately about Dave:
- He’s very humble.
- He doesn’t take one second of being on set for granted. He’s so appreciative to be part of this cast and crew.
Guardians of the Galaxy was Dave’s 1st huge film, so it was sweet to hear him explain to us how it felt to be on set and part of the 1st movie. “When I watched the first film, I could see that I transitioned from being very nervous and very uncomfortable to being very comfortable and really getting comfortable on a big set, ‘cause it was a huge deal for me.” I love that he was so honest with us because I can’t IMAGINE being the “new kid” on a major movie!
Dave loves playing Drax. You can see it in his eyes (even with full Drax makeup) and hear it in his voice. It’s fun seeing an actor really love the character he’s playing. He HAS to become this “person” for a period of time and it’s cool seeing Dave really sink his teeth into and love being Drax.
“You know what I love most about him (Drax) is that he is not what people expect. When I did the first one, I think people expected Drax to be a certain way, and James (Dunn, the Director) went the totally opposite way with him. If you take a big guy and he looks menacing and he looks terrifying, it’s easy to be that guy on screen, you know? You growl a lot, you snarl a lot, you cut people’s heads off and it’s easy. There’s just nothing challenging about it. But to be that guy and look that way, but then to make people laugh, you know, I think it’s the challenge. And I think that’s the fun part and that’s what I love about Drax.”
If you know the character Drax, you know it involves some magic in the makeup chair. I couldn’t get over just how intricate and detailed the “costume” of Drax is until I saw him up close and personal. It’s remarkable. We couldn’t help but ask him about the makeup process of Drax.
“It’s awesome, because the first film, we got it done in four hours. It was a great day. I mean – everybody was celebrating. This one is like an hour and a half at the most! But the thing is, now it’s a whole new system that they’re using and it’s so funny because they attack me with these paint rollers. There’s like five guys rolling paint, and then there’s other stuff too. The tattoos were actually sheets of latex on the first (film) — sheets of silicone. Now they’re just transferred, so all of these are (pointing to his “tattoos”) individual. They’re moldings of glue so they stick on to me, but also it’s very hard to get off. So at the end of the day I sit in the sauna for about an hour and I start to really sweat it off, and they peel it off of me. But still, it’s so fast now it’s not even an issue.”
Obviously, Dave has to be in tip-top shape to play Drax. Getting physically prepared for the part seems to be pretty essential. We were all curious just how Dave prepares and gets himself in shape for the role of Drax.
“That’s so funny you ask because I didn’t really train for the last one and I had the luxury of the big sheets of latex. And I came in and did the first makeup test for this film, I was like wow, I really have to be in shape for this. [LAUGHS] Because the makeup is unforgiving, I mean, it doesn’t hide anything! So I actually trained rigorously for this and I still do. I can’t train on the days that we work but the days that I’m off, people always say what do you do with your days off? I work out, I train, sometimes twice a day. Yeah, I’ve been hitting it hard ‘cause, you know, I want to deliver. I want Drax to look the part as well, so yeah, I really took this more seriously, diving and training, so hopefully it’ll show.”
And – of course – we NEEDED to get into something juicy from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2! It was funny because Dave didn’t want to share too much, but he was super excited to give us what he could. First question, we wanted to know about Drax’s relationship with Mantis.
“Well, I also don’t want to give anything away. But yeah, I will say Mantis and Drax definitely make a connection. It’s probably not the connection most people are going to expect or that people might be reading into, but definitely a connection. Fans have to remember that at the heart of Drax is his heartbreak over his family, so I don’t think there’s ever gonna be that next love interest for Drax. He had that love interest, she’s gone, he’s driven by that heartbreak, you know, that sinking revenge.”
And we couldn’t get Dave to share too much about the overall message of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but he did wet our appetites and was super sweet with his answer.
“I’m afraid to say it because I don’t want to give away too much of the storyline, but there is an answer to that and there is a great message in this film.”
I feel like it’s only right to wrap my interview with Dave Bautistia on this note. We asked Dave what’s one thing he’d like to see for his character. He laughed and said, “I’d like my character in The Avengers. You know, this is wishful thinking. I’m pretty satisfied with the character. He’s actually more than I ever thought he could be or really wished that he could be… I have to give a lot of credit to James for that. He’s been the creative mind behind Drax, but he’s really just, I think, created an incredible character.”
I’m happy to share that Dave started filming Avenger: Infinity War 2 weeks ago!
Pretty amazing, wishes do come true… Disney and Marvel magic!
Dave was a wonderful guy to interview. He truly is the perfect Drax.
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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 is in theaters May 5th!
Disclosure: This is a press trip with Marvel. All travel expenses were covered and all opinions are 100% my own.
